Who wants to be a billionaire?

Saturday's record $1.6 billion Powerball drawing has come and gone – and still no winner. Since then, the record jackpot ate a Mario mushroom and powered-up (😉) to reach $1.9 billion, according to California officials, the new largest lottery prize in history.

And if you think this news is just something for your grandpa or wacky aunt, you may want to reconsider. Since its revival in 1964, the lottery has grown to become something of an American institution.

• 42% of US adults report playing the lottery at least once last year.
• Americans spent over $105 billion on lottery tickets in 2021. That’s more than on books, concert and movie tickets, and video streaming services… combined.

🎟🎰 Looking ahead… The next drawing is tonight. And should a lucky human beat the 1 in 292+ million odds of winning, they can take their loot in one of two ways: lump sum or annuity.

Choosing the lump sum route would result in a one-time payment of $929.1 million (before the taxman cometh, of course). Opting for the annuity route means the entire jackpot would be doled out in a series of increasing payments over 29 years.

+Dive deeper: Into the history of the lottery here.